Cigarette snuffer



Oct. 11, 1966 w. NYC 3,277,898

CIGARETTE SNUFFER Filed July 16. 1964 INVENTOR. (J1 AD/M/P A/YO' Z ZZ /rdhi United States Patent "ice 3,277,898 CIGARETTE SNUFFER Wladimir Nye,3125 U St, Sacramento, Calif. Filed July 16, 1964, Ser. No. 383,093 9Claims. (Cl. 131-237) My invention relates primarily to means useful tocigarette smokers for receiving their smoked cigarettes and snuffingthem out and disposing of them in an ashtray.

It is an object of the invention to provide a particularly effectivemechanism for snuffing out a burning cigarette and for depositing it inan ashtray when the cigarette has been extinguished.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette snuffereffective to prevent further combustion of a cigarette received by it.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette snutfer whichautomatically makes itself available for a successive cigarette afterone has been extinguished.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette snuffer whichis easily and simple to manufacture, which is inexpensive, and whichrequires little or no maintenance or upkeep.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cigarettesnuffer which is attractive in appearance and can be utilized in anyscheme of decoration.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved cigarettesnuffer.

Other objects together with the foregoing are attained in theembodiments of the invention described in the accompanying descriptionand illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of one form of cigarette snuifer pursuantto the invention with a cigarette in receiving position therein,portions of the figure being broken away to reduce its size;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the structure shown inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but without the ashtray structureand showing the cigarette receptacle in discharging position;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of cigarette snuffer incigarette receiving position and with the base eliminated;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation similar to FIGURE 4 showing the cigarettereceptacle in inverted or discharging position, a portion of the figurebeing broken away to reduce its size; and

FIGURE 6 is an end elevation of the structure shown in FIGURE 4, a partof the cigarette receptacle being broken away to show the constructionin cross section on a vertical central plane.

In one form of the device, the cigarette snuffer comprises a firm base 6suitably hollowed out to provide a bowl 7 to serve as a cigaretteashtray. Upstanding from a convenient point on the base 6 is an upright8 conveniently fabricated of stiff metal and formed to provide at itsupper end a horizontally extending pivot pin 9. Iournalled on the pivotpin is a cigarette receptacle generally designated lll. The receptacleincludes a reinforcing fin 12 of stiff metal apertured to revolve on thepivot pin 9 in the fashion of a journal. The fin is enlarged to pro videa counterweight 14. The cigarette receptacle also includes a conicalreceiver 16 made of a sheet of thermostatic or bimetallic materialwrapped into the approximately conical shape shown but with the ends orelements of the conical sheet not connected. This either leaves anintervening gap or provides an overlap. That is to say, the unconnectedends or elements of the conical sheet 16 can be arranged either toprovide a rather wide intervening triangular-shaped gap, as appears mostclearly in FIG- 3,277,893 Patented Oct. 11, 1966 URE 1, or the sheet canbe made sufiiciently long, in a direction parallel to the base, so thatwhen the sheet is formed into its conical shape the ends are disposed inan overlapping arrangement with little, if any, gap. As will berecognized, either of these arrangements permits of relative movementbetweeen the two ends so that the cone is free to contract and expand inresponse to temperature, and thus perform its desired function as willbe explained in detail below. The weight of the cigarette receiver 16and of the fin 12 does not quite equal the weight of the counterweightI4. Under normal, unloaded circumstances the parts assume a position asshown in FIGURE 1 with the counterweight 14 lowermost and with the openend 17 of the receiver uppermost.

In use, when a cigarette is positioned with its lighted end in thereceptacle 11 by being passed through the open upper end 17 of thereceiver 16, the heat from the burning end of the lighted cigarette isimmediately effective upon the conical receiver and causes it tocontract with respect to the supporting fin 12. The cigarette end isthus firmly gripped and enclosed by the receiver 16. When the userreleases the other end of the cigarette, the combined weight of thecigarette and the receptacle then considerably overbalances thecounterweight 14 and the receiver structure is moved into invertedposition as shown in FIGURE 3.

In inverted position, the cigarette remains suspended or dependent fromthe receiver 16 just over the bowl 7. During this time, the snuffingeffect of the gripping cone is manifested. The temperature of thecigarette end drops because there is no more combustion due to heatabsorption by the metal and deprivation of air. The conical receiver 16then re-expands as it also drops toward room temperature. When thereceiver has sufficiently expanded, its grip on the cigarette is relaxedand the extinguished cigarette then falls into the bowl 7. As soon asthe cigarette is released from the conical receiver 16, thecounterweight 14 is again effective and the receiver is inverted to itsinitial position with its open end uppermost.

It has been found by experience with the simple cone of FIGURES 1, 2 and3 that after a time sticky tars and other adhesive materials from theburning cigarettes gather on the interior of the cone and may cause acigarette to be retained in the FIGURE 3 position by adhesion instead ofbeing released.

To obviate this, in the form shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, there is amechanism. In this instance, the base 26 is formed substantially asbefore and an upright 27 is mounted thereon and and extends thereover.At its upper end the upright is provided with a horizontally extendingpivot pin 28. The cigarette receptacle 29 is provided with acounterweight 31, on the opposite side of the pivot pin as before, andthe pivot pin 28 forms a journal for the receptacle substantially at thejunction of the receptacle and the counterweight. The receptacleincludes an outer casing 32 having a swelled, vase-like shape. The wideopen end 33 converges toward a waist 34 only slightly larger than acigarette. The waist is followed by a substantial enlargement 35.

Within the casing 32 there is disposed a bimetallic or thermostatic cone36, as before, but, as can be seen by reference to FIGURES 4 and 5,without the supporting fin 12 of the FIGURES 1-3 form of device. Asbefore, however, the cone 36 includes a slit along the side so that theends either leave an intervening gap or provide an overlap in thefashion previously explained. This is held in place by a centralfastening 37, The size and shape of the receiver are such that acigarette will pass easily through the open end 33 and will also passclosely through the restricted waist 34 between the upper, flaredportion and the bulbous enlargement 35. The enlarged .5 walls of thecasing 32 are far enough away from the burning cigarette so thatmaterial deposits on the cool walls of the bulbous portion 35 where itis too far away to adhere to the cigarette.

The operation of the strucure is about as before, with the furtherimprovement that a stop pin 38 is provided on the counterweight 31 inposition to abut a stop lug 39 at the upper end of the upright 27, sothat in inverted position, as shown in FIGURE 5, and in uprightposition, as shown in FIGURE 4, the cigarette receiver cannot occupy anexactly dead center position.

In use, a lighted cigarette is introduced and thermostatically grippedas shown in FIGURE 4. When manually released, the cigarette immediatelyoverbalances and inverts the receptacle. The cigarette is retained bythe cone until such time as the cigarette is out and its temperaturelowered. The cone then expands and lets the cigarette drop into theashtray 26. Following this, the receptacle, being again overbalanced bythe counterweight, is restored to its nearly upright, initial positionas shown in FIGURE 4.

What is claimed is:

1. A cigarette snutfer comprising a hollow cone of thermostatic metaladapted to receive a portion of a cigarette, said cone having alongitudinal split therein, the split being wider at the base of thecone than at the apex thereof, said cone contracting when heated by acigarette and expanding when cooled.

2. The device of claim 1 further including an ashtray, and a pivotsupport secured to said ashtray, said cone being mounted on said pivotsupport for swinging movement about a substantially horizontal axisbetween a generally upright position and an inverted position.

3. The device of claim 2 further characterized by a counterweightattached to said cone for urging said cone toward said upright position.

4. A cigarette snuffer comprising the structure of claim 3, togetherwith a bulbous receptacle having a closed end and an open end, said conebeing located Within said 4 closed end of said receptacle with the baseof said cone facing toward said open end to receive a cigarette insertedthrough said open end of said receptacle and into engagement with saidcone.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said open end of said receptacle isflared to facilitate the insertion of a cigarette therethrough.

6. The device of claim 4 wherein said counterweight is sufiicient tourge said receptacle and said cone when empty to an upright attitude butis insuflicient to urge said receptacle and said cone when loaded tosaid upright attitude.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein said pivot support is mounted abovesaid ashtray in a location such that a hot cigarette held in said coneand depending over said ashtray is dropped into said ashtray when saidcigarette is cold.

8. The device of claim 7 further characterized by stop means associatedwith said pivot support for limiting the extent of angular movement ofsaid cone to approximately 9. The device of claim 8 wherein the axis ofsaid cone substantially intersects said horizontal axis of angularmovement of said cone.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 755,870 3/1904Hayward. 1,583,738 5/1926 Oltra 131237 X 2,506,666 5/1950 Graham 131-2402,558,320 6/1951 Statelles 131256 2,561,124 7/1951 Lacker 131240 FOREIGNPATENTS 470,321 8/1937 Great Britain.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

J. S. REICH, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CIGARETTE SNUFFER COMPRISING A HOLLOW CONE OF THERMOSTATIC METALADAPTED TO RECEIVE A PORTION OF CIGARETTE, SAID CONE HAVING ALONGITUDINAL SPLIT THEREIN, THE SPLIT BEING WIDER AT THE BASE OF THECONE THAN AT THE APEX THEREOF, SAID CONE CONTRACTING WHEN HEATED BY ACIGARETTE AND EXPANDING WHEN COOLED.